Assiotor



W. FOWLER.

INSOLL.

APPLICATION FILED OCT- 15. 1915.

1,317,968. Patented 001;. 7.1919.

Mormuxh UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM FOWLER, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, 'I'O UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPO- RATION OF NEW JERSEY.

INSOLE Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 7, 1919.

Application filed October 15, 1915. Serial No. 56,093.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM FOWLER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Insoles, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

The present invention relates to the manufacture of boots and shoes and more particularly to soles for use in the manufacture of shoes.

The invention is herein shown and described by way of illustration, and not at all by way of limitation, as embodied in an insole adapted for use in the manufacture of Goodyear welt shoes.

Insoles used in the manufacture of welt shoes are commonly provided with a continuous sewing rib projecting from one face of the sole and extending generally parallel to the edge of the sole, the sewing rib being located substantially in from the edge of the sole so as to leave a marginal portion outside of the rib, which marginal portion is commonlv termed the feather. After the insole and upper have been assembled on a shoe last and the upper materials have been lasted over the feather and temporarily secured to the insole, the upper and a Welt are permanently secured to the insole by a seam of stitches, termed the inseam, passing through the upper, the welt, and the sewing rib.

It is the general, if not the universal, practioe to incorporate stiifening material in the toe portion of the shoe, "resulting in a considerably greater thickness of upper materials at the toe than in the shank or elsewhere in the forepart of the shoe. In consequence of this the welt is necessarily raised at the toe and seated substantially higher than the general plane of the welt throughout the remainder of the forepart of the shoe and in the shank. To ofi'set thi condition and properly sew the Welt and upper materials to the insole rib, the operator of the insea ning machine must do one of two things in sewing the upper and welt to the insole around the toe-either he must tip the shoe out of the substantially horizontal lane in which the shoe may properly be he d when inseaming other portions to cause the inseam stitches to enter as near to the base of the outside face or striking shoulder of the insole rib as possible, or he must sew high on the sewing rib, thus locating the inseam substantially above the base of the striking shoulder. Either procedure is disadvantageous. If the operator tips the shoe in the manner first suggested, long inseam stitches and a correspondingly weak seam result and the inseam stitches are liable to be located so far out from the sewing rib that when the outsole is thereafter sewed to the welt the outsole securing stitches will cut into the inseam. On the other hand, if the operator sews high on the insole rib a tight seam is not produced and the inseam stitches will be exposed in the welt crease; that is, as it is usually expressed in the trade, the welt crease will grin.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved shoe sole, the use of which will correct the abovementionecl and other difliculties heretofore experienced, facilitate the welt attaching or inseaming operation, and result in superior shoemaking.

In one aspect the invention consists in a sole having the base of the striking shoulder of the insole rib around the toe to which the upper materials and welt are to be secured located relatively to the opposite face of the sole to compensate for the thickness of the stiffening material. In accordance with this invention, the insole is provided with a marginal sewing rib and a feather outside the said sewing rib and has the base of the shoulder formed by the sewing rib at the toe portion thereof disposed in a substantiall lower plane than the base of the said shou der throughout other portions of the insole. This insures seating the welt around the too so as to preserve the desired straight line continuation of the welt and inseam from the shank and forepart through the toe and makes possible a properly formed inseam Without the necessity of resorting to either of the expedients necessary, as above stated, under the present ractice.

In the illustrated construction the marginal portion or feather of the insole terminates substantially at the ti seam line on either side of the toe, the insole being trimmed close to the sewing rib around the toe. As hereinafter explained, the invention ether with the reinforce in its broader aspects is not, however, restricted to such embodiment and the terminology hereinafter employed in the specification and in the claims is to be construed as generic unless otherwise specified.

The objects above stated I accomplish by that certain construction and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more specifically pointed out and claimed.

In the drawings,

F igure 1 is a top plan view of an insole illustrating one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross section of the insole at the ball thereof.

Fig. 3 is a like section taken at the toe.

The insole has a body l, and a double up turned lip 2. The insole and lip are reinforced by a layer of canvas mounted thereon in the usual manner. The insole does not necessarily have to be of this type, as a single lip insole Without reinforcement would answer as well to the novel feature of my invention.

In making the insole herein illustrated, the blank 1, which may be of leather or any other suitable material, is first passed through a channeling niachine in which the edge of the blank is slit along its shank and forepart to produce a lip and a feather 4, and a channel is cut in one face of the blank downwardly and outwardly to produce a flap. This 1i) and channel flap are turned upwardl Y as shown in the drawings, a sheet of reinforcing material is applied roughly to the blank preliminarily to ass ing the blank and sheet material throng ithe re nforcing machine which acts to form the reinforcing over the upturned lip and channel flap and press it down upon the laterally adjacent surfaces of the sole.

The upturned lip and channel flap toroduoes a strikmg shoulder or inseam stitch-receiving rib which. projects a uniform height above the surface Of hhQ. feather 4 of the sole, and since the feather is of a uniform thickness the relative depth of the striking shoulder is approximately the same throughout the insole, such structural relation of the feather and the striking shoulder of an insole being practically universally used at the present tinie in insoles of this general type.

In accordance with the present invention, the depth of thestriking shoulder 2 at the toe portion of the insole 1 is increased to compensate ,for the thickness of the toe stiffening materials ordinarily included in v the toe portipn of the shoe upper. This is accompllshed by providin the insole with a deficiency in. the vertioa thickness of its fea er 4 at the toe, whereby the base of'the stri ing shoulder 2 is located in a lower plane .on .the insolebody at the toe than throughout other portions of the sole, this additional. depth of the striking shoulder be ing approximatel equivalentto the additional thickness 0 the shoe upper at the toe (JCCELHlOllUll by the incorporation of toe stiffcning or box toe materials in. the shoe upper. Hy reason of this additional depth provided for the striking shoulder 2 at the toe, the overlasted portion of the shoe upper, in the manufacture of the shoe, occupies substantially the same position relatively to the striking shoulder that the overlasted portions of the shoe upper occupy throughout other portions of the shoe which are, of course, minus the additional thickness of the toe stiffening material. of the striking shoulder is increased by en'- tircly removing the feather 4 of the sole, substantially to the striking shoulder or to the base of the sewing rib 2, the feather terminating on either side of the insole at substantially the tip line. This feather 4 is preferably entirely removed. only when the thickness of the m erlastcd portion of the toe stiffening material is zqiproxiinatoly equivalent to the thickness of the feather of the sole as when thin or light iron stock is being used for the insole. The toe portion of the feather 4 is advantageously removed at the time the insole blank is died out, the die being suitably shaped for this purpose. B 1 reason of the feather 4 b'eii'i entirely eliminated from the toe of the inso e i'llus trated, the depth of the striking shoulder 2 is correspondingly increased the'an 'ount of the thickness of the feather as corn'pared to other portions of the sole whereby the under surface of the overlasted toe portion of the shoe upper, instead of being seated upon a feather, occupies a substantially lower plane on the sole so that the sewing needle is en abled to secure the upper materials to the striking shoulder in substantially the saint: relative position as at other parts of the shoe u er.

p mm the foregoing it is evident tha when the upper is brought around the lee and laid up along the insole asit lies face up on the last, the toe portions thereof, thickened by layers of fabric and boiit terial, will rise to about the same above the last as the parts of theupper which rest on the insole leather. Thefeatlrer is not needed to reinforce the material of the box toe, as it is stiff and strong of it; self. The inseainer, in scanning the upper and welt to the insole lip can make a perfectly straight stitch not high and not thicker than at any other point. V y

In the use of the insole herein disclosed, the upper is lasted over the feather 4 of the insole 1 and formed against the upstan in wall constituting the striking shoulder for the insole in the usual manner. reason of the feather 4 of the sole being dcficient in thickness an amount equivalent As herein illustrated, the depth ifs" isO"

r scues;

to i the thiekness of the box toe; ortoee 'siif feningsanaterial inthe shoei i ippeni up; per surfaee' of the? overlasted portion the shoe upper sis in .'approanimate ly the same 5 plane as the adjacent forepartsurfacesyoli,

thesilibiipperf .inlothef words, the sewing rib 2 resents a shoulder against which to seeine proportions throughout. shoe upper is inseamed or sewed to the insole, the operator may locate the inseam at the extreme base of the sewing rib and at substantially the same relative location on the rib, both at the toe of the shoe and rearwardly thereof and without manipulating the shoe in order to inseam the shoe to the best advantage. By reason of the inseam stitches being located at the lowest point or the base of the striking shoulder at the toe, a strong and tight seam is obtained. Moreover, the toe portion of the shoe upper conforms more accurately to the lines of the toe of the last because the upper is drawn more closely into the angle formed by the striking shoulder and as the welt is also 'drawn more tightly against the shoe upper and with a shorter stitch the welt crease at the toe does not open up after the outside is attached and result in a grinning toe.

Although it is not necessary entirely to remove the feather of the sole at the toe for the purpose of compensating for the additional thickness of the toe stiffening materials in the shoe upper, an important advantage results from the use of such an insole which is not obtainable with the insole having its feather merely reduced at the toe. In the use of an insole in which the feather is entirely removed from the insole at the toe portion thereof the toe portion of the last itself provides the foundation upon which to conform the shoe upper. By reason of this the wipers are enabled to exert a more forcible w1ping action upon the shoe upper in wiping it up the side faces of the last and then over on to the bottom surface of the last and without danger of engaging the feather of the insole and causin it to buckle and be distorted. This di culty in lasting shoes having the usual type of insole has been particularly troublesome, so much so that numerous lasting machine attachments are employed to prevent it. The entire absence of the feather at the extreme toe is of little, if any, consequence inasmuch as the toe stifi'ening materials are ordinarily of sufficient strength to maintain their shape without the support of the feather of the sole.

In the subsequent inseam trimming oporation on the shoe there is less danger of cutting into the inseam than with the shoes heretofore made, because the inseam stands above the surface of the insole a uniform distance ithroughoilt; anda also-@imithqa out sole attaching aiperatiois the eutsolest tch sl are a uniforniztlietanse outsidegct thejnafi m s stitches and ieonsiderablyc1oseni6athe .inseam stitchesatham wasaheretofere possible, with the result that a closer t of the ed e of the sole is permitted. will: iunflfistaodsthakethe tcentiufi 'in its broader aspect contemplates cot only cutting away the insole feather at the toe end of the shoe but any reduction in the thickness of the feather and it is intended to cover broadly such reduction. An insole having a reduced feather at an end portion, for example the toe end, as distinguished from an insole in which a part of the feather is entirely cut away, is not claimed specifically herein but constitutes the subject-matter of my co-pending application Serial No. 251,741, filed August 29, 1918.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An insole having an upturned lip extending along the shank and around the toe portions thereof, and a feather outside the lip extending along the shank and up to the tip of the toe and cut away at the tip 0; the toe substantially to the shoulder of t e lip.

2. An insole for shoes comprisin a blank provided with a continuous upstan ing sewing rib on one face, and having a feather adjacent to the sewing rib and constituting the margin of the sole except at the toe portion of the sole where the feather is removed substantially to the base of the sewin rib.

3. An insolb for shoes comprisin a lank provided with a continuous u stan ing sewing rib on one face, and a eather outside of the sewing rib and constituting the margin of the sole except at an end portion of the sole where the upstandin sewing rib constitutes the outer margin 0 the sole.

4. An insole for shoes comprising a blank provided with a continuous upstanding sewing rib on one face and having a feather adjacent to the sewin rib throughout the shank and forepart of the sole and terminating at approximately the tip line on either side of the insole.

5. An insole for shoes comprisin a soleshaped blank having its outer e go forwardly of a line substantially coincident with the tip line formed to present a sewing shoulder and havin a continuation of the said sewing shoul er rearwardly of substantially the tip line and located a distance inwardly from the outer edge of the sole blank to provide a feather outside of the sewing rib.

6. A sole for shoes comprising a blank rovided with a marginal sewing rib roecting above a' laterally adjacent sur ca of Hie stile to' form 8% sti ikiilg Sufism; 9.11 1 striki 1 swim axfieribi'ly ofthia flb; *Bha having the base of the striking sli'rfabe an basis the surface at the; me pomthe" boa porbiim of the 505531 a iowr pl'alm tion' being dispose in a lower plane than than at ofihbr pmtiolis of thfi; 2591a: this piane of fihelbasn of said: surface am other 10 5' inSbl flBhOB'S compris'mg a blank portions 01? the insnle.

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